This is my personal tier list of the restricteds as we return to Regulation G. Though results and other people’s opinions were considered, this is largely based on my own opinions of each Pokemon’s viability.

The Pokemon are ranked within the tiers, and lazily done so after Necrozma Dawn Wings. The blurbs for each Pokemon below I think are more important to take into account than the ranking itself. I assessed the strengths and weaknesses of each Pokemon, and others may weigh those characteristics differently which can change the order of their rankings, and some of those characteristics may be more or less important as the metagame cycles.

As far as how actionable this list might be, I think everything down to Koraidon is perfectly defensible to use at majors, and their common teams are definitely worth spending time to prepare against. The Niche Threats I think can be used if you can truly and honestly see the narrow opening that would allow them to be successful, and while I think you should still also prepare against them for majors if you have the time, you will likely be able to get away with simply winging gameplans against them, if you even get paired versus them to begin with. All the Pokemon below Dawn Wings are for content creation and for meming at locals only.

The Big Three

1. Miraidon

I think any of the top three are defensible in the top slot, but Miraidon is number one for me for one main reason: in a format that is so heavily dictated by matchups, Miraidon generally has the most balanced matchup spread out of all the restricteds. Though it has few outright positive matchups, being neutral into virtually the whole format gives it the ability to win versus almost any team with reasonable play, and does so without sacrificing individual function. Miraidon can run its usual flavorless Choice Specs set and be partnered with its usual boring friends on the Worlds winning team as well as other sidegrades like Chi-Yu or Ursaluna Blood Moon, and despite this being one of the most prepared for archetypes, it will still likely be a top threat to win any major because of how stable the structure of a Miraidon team is.

2. Calyrex Shadow Rider

CSR is in my opinion the most flawed Pokemon among the big three, saddled with serious coverage issues that makes it very difficult to break past Pokemon that resist Ghost, most notably Terapagos. It is also, in my opinion, the single most oppressive Pokemon in the format, even if its usage varied a lot last season. Beyond the Dark and Normal types, it is silly just how capable CSR is at being able to Nasty Plot + Astral Barrage versus virtually everything else, as it makes up for mediocre super effective coverage with a combination of raw power and strong neutral coverage, with a speed tier that puts it above almost everything else in the format, making it incredibly difficult to answer with just faster offense like you can with most offensive Pokemon. It is also in my opinion the most straightforward Pokemon to approach in team building and in playing, as it has clearly defined goals in setting up, clicking Astral Barrage, being mindful what Astral Barrage resists your opponent has, preserving your counters to those, and there are plenty of teammates to choose from that support the set up and cover the gaps in its coverage. Plus there are the Choice Specs sets on hyper offensive teams that haven’t seen much usage but are also easy to forget about in building, as well as that degenerate Dondozo + Weezing team. CSR’s results might be volatile because of how polarizing its function and match up spread are, but it should be the number one concern you have in building, even at time during the metagame where its usage appear to have cratered. Much of the format revolves around whether you have adequate tools to deal with CSR. Opposing CSR itself is a major concern for CSR players.

3. Calyrex Ice Rider

Ice Rider is comparable to Miraidon in how stable its function and match ups are, rarely pulling outright negative match ups and rarely finding itself in outright losing positions. There is also in my opinion more room for creativity in building Ice Rider than Miraidon. The main issue I have with Ice Rider that knocks it down some is that it often it finds itself playing on the backfoot versus more offensive threats. It is often moving second and playing reactively, and though the threat of Trick Room gives it some breathing space, playing Ice Rider involves being overly careful not to slip to not get overwhelmed by offense. The Hard Trick Room versions of Ice Rider do alleviate some of those issues, but HTR archetypes have their own structural issues. It is also worth mentioning that Ice Rider has flopped hard in recent grassroots tournaments. However, I think it would be foolish to take those results at face value, and my read on the situation is that the best players playing in those tournaments were simply opting to use other restricteds. Having maybe the highest effective BST in the format with versatile function keeps Ice Rider as a top restricted despite the aforementioned flaws.

Secondary Threats

4. Zamazenta

Having the most unique function out the top restricteds makes Zamazenta a difficult Pokemon to evaluate for me. This is evident by the fact that set up CSR and Terapagos, for example, may have a large overlap in partners, but Zamazenta’s most common friends are a group that are entirely unique to it. It is a stat stick trades damage well rather than finding its value in raw damage output unlike most other restricteds, and Wide Guard gives it a defensive tool in a format that has so many powerful spread moves. The overall package is a Pokemon that has a fairly balances match up spread while also being the single best restricted into Ice Rider and Terapagos. It is ranked lower for me because its unique function might also make it unintuitive to build and play. I have picked the brains of top Zamazenta players to understand why specific team decisions are made and still do not fully understand them, and they are not conclusions that I and likely many others would be able to make on our own, though I admit that this is likely just a skill issue. Zamazenta is also strictly a single target attacker in a format where other restricteds have broken spread moves, and even merely decent ones like Miraidon’s Dazzling Gleam.

5. Terapagos

Terapagos is the restricted that matches up best into the most oppressive Pokemon in the format, CSR, and gets a lot of points for the versatility in the types of teams it can be found on. It can be run on offensive teams with a Choice Specs set or it can be on more balanced teams with Calm Mind. Despite the success it has had though, especially in recent large grassroots tournaments, Terapagos is limited by the fact that it is the very definition of a tera hog, and it might have the least raw power out of the viable restricteds. Lastly, its matchup into Zamazenta might also be the worst matchup among the top seven restricteds. Some players might prefer a more polarized match up spread, but for me personally this is a negative, which is the main reason why it isn’t among the big three for me like others believe it is.

6. Kyogre

Despite its lack of popularity, Kyogre is, in my opinion, comparable in quality to Zamazenta and Terapagos. It has maybe the highest raw damage output out of any Pokemon in the format which makes it threatening to virtually any team, but like Terapagos, it can also be on a more balanced and even borderline stally team with a Calm Mind set. Kyogre is severely held back though by severe accuracy issues, which also dissuades a lot of top players from running it, limiting its results, and it is susceptible to manual weather. Even just running out of weather turns can be difficult for Kyogre to manage, as the Calm Mind set in particular will need to waste at least one of those turns to be fully operational. Overall, Kyogre does need more attention than the Pokemon ranked above it, but is a Pokemon that is in my opinion worth the attention if you are able to get past the accuracy issues.

7. Koraidon

Koraidon is severely limited by two major flaws. One is that it lacks a spread move, an important trait that a restricted, the most important damage source on a team, should ideally have. The second is that the most effective way to run Koraidon has generally been to use Sun to supercharge Pokemon like Flutter Mane, Chi-Yu, and Raging Bolt, and such an offensive structure will inherently make a team unstable. Though I think it has a comparable set of flaws to some of the Pokemon ranked below it, Koraidon gets a bump because that same offensive structure Koraidon has also gives it the tools to be able to beat most teams even if the accompanying instability will likely prevent it from achieving consistent success, and such offensive teams are very easy to lose to if you are unprepared. It is also generally positive against Zamazenta and Terapagos, two Pokemon that may be popular picks for people who want something strong but may not be the top threats. Koraidon I think is a clear step down from the secondary threats, but is still much closer to that group than the niche threats.

Niche Threats

8. Zacian

Zacian faces a lot of the same issues that Koraidon has by being a single target attacker usually found on hyper-offensive teams, but instead with Pokemon like Chien-Pao and Regidrago, and it does not have the utility Koraidon has with Sun. What it does have is better defensive typing which makes it less of a tera hog, and it is generally favorable into Miraidon, the number one ranked restricted on this list, especially the Arubega / Luca version. Overall I think despite the strengths of the teams it is found on, Zacian itself has felt a bit too fair in a format with criminal $90 moves, to say nothing of the accuracy issues it also has with Play Rough.

9. Groudon

Groudon has one truly defining strength in that it is probably the restricted that has the best matchup into Miraidon, arguably the best restricted in the format, and, like Koraidon, can supercharge threatening teammates with Sun. However, Groudon is in my opinion just way too fair of a Pokemon for a restricted, not providing a whole lot on its own beyond Ground coverage that is strongly feeling the effects of power creep, and it sits in an awkward speed tier. Not to mention the severe accuracy issues with Precipice Blades! Groudon has seen recent success in grassroots tournaments paired with, if you can believe it, a Pokemon with even worse accuracy issues in Jumpluff, though Chlorophyll Sleep Powder is very much the “unfair” tool that Groudon does not really have. It is the type of Pokemon that has exactly one day 2 appearance of every major but it would take an exceptional set of circumstances for it to achieve much more than that.

10. Lunala

Lunala has outstanding bulk and can even run a powerful spread move when partnered with Indeedee, plus has strong tools in Trick Room and Wide Guard. You can even run Calm Mind if you are feeling zany. However, its reliance on terrain to maximize power, reliance on a one time use Meteor Beam to hit Incineroar, and overall poor coverage severely limits its usefulness, all for a payoff that may not even be higher than just using CSR itself. A viable Pokemon, but one that is power crept in a single restricted format, and one that needs to work very hard for a payoff that others can achieve much easier, even if they may be more prepared for.

11. Necrozma Dawn Wings

Dawn Wings placed well at Japan Nationals and there is exactly one type of team that it is viable on, the usual Trick Room Timmy PsySpam archetype. I think the team is viable enough to mention, and it has an established structure that makes it easy to build and play, but HTR teams would likely prefer to just run Ice Rider, and it is an open question if Dawn Wings is even preferred to Lunala on this archetype. The greatly superior power and speed tier for Trick Room keeps Dawn Wings afloat.

Stretching the Definition of “Viable”

12-19. Lugia, Eternatus, Kyurem White, Dialga Origin, Palkia Origin, Dialga, Palkia, Rayquaza

Rapid fire: Lugia and Eternatus see fringe usage with snowflakes who want to run them on Protect the President teams, and they can be easy to lose to if you do not know the correct approach to the match up, but overall their power levels just do not hold up to be serious threats. Kyurem-W is a one trick pony that can be threatening on Blizzard spam teams that also gives it serious RNG potential, but overall Kyurem-W simply needs too much work to maintain a threatening presence, and it is slower than a lot of more potent restricteds. If you perform some serious brain contortions you can convince yourself that Dialga and Palkia and their two alternate forms are viable Trick Room setters because Telepathy might be useful with a Pokemon like Ursaluna, but overall, a serious lack of juice and being limited to single target attacks prevent them from being truly viable. Rayquaza should probably be in the unusable tier but people did try it early format next to Chien-Pao with Swords Dance as a Dragonite in a different font, but overall, Rayquaza is not a serious threat and can be left ignored in prep and unconsidered for building.

Unusable

20-29. Ho-Oh, Zekrom, Reshiram, Solgaleo, Necrozma Dusk Mane, Giratina Origin, Giratina, Zacian Regular, Kyurem Black, Mewtwo

A collection of Pokemon that really just do not do anything to be worthwhile considerations when you also account for the opportunity cost to use them in a single restricted format. Raw Zacian and Mewtwo might seem like they have some usefulness, but there really is no serious reason to ever use them over Zacian Crowned or CSR.

Stop it. Get some help.

30-35. Zamazenta Regular, Kyurem Regular, Necrozma Regular, Calyrex Regular, Cosmoem, Cosmog

If you use these you are simply trying to be funny and you are probably going to be unsuccessful at it.